- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

The Arduino Split is Over, New Non-Profit Formed
by Peter Reutemann 01 Oct '16

01 Oct '16

'"Today is one of the best days in Arduino history," announced Massimo Banzi, Co-Founder of Arduino LLC, calling it "a new beginning" for Ardunio. Slashdot reader ruhri reports: Massimo Banzi and Federico Musto, co-founders of the Arduino Project, announced they have settled their differences that had resulted in the creation of Arduino LLC and Arduino SRL. A new, unified Arduino Holding and Arduino Foundation will be created. "Massimo Banzi and Federico Musto took the stage today at the New York Maker Faire to announce the good news," reports a blog post at Arudino.cc. "At the end of 2016, the newly created 'Arduino Holding' will become the single point of contact for the wholesale distribution of all current and future products... In addition, Arduino will form a not-for-profit 'Arduino Foundation' responsible for maintaining the open source Arduino desktop IDE, and continuing to foster the open source movement by providing support for a variety of scholarships, community and developer initiatives."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/01/1926242 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Asian Penguins turn program into a Linux success
by Peter Reutemann 30 Sep '16

30 Sep '16

"The Community School of Excellence (CSE) Asian Penguins are the world's first and only Linux user group based in a Hmong charter school. A failed Windows laptop program at the school was turned by the Asian Penguins into a Linux success." -- source: https://opensource.com/education/16/9/asian-penguins-convert-minnesota-scho… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Chromification Continues: Firefox May Use Chrome's PDF and Flash Plugins
by Peter Reutemann 30 Sep '16

30 Sep '16

'Mozilla announced today Project Mortar, an initiative to explore the possibility of deploying alternative technologies in Firefox to replace its internal implementations. The project's first two goals are to test two Chrome plugins within the Firefox codebase. These are PDFium, the Chrome plugin for viewing PDF files, and Pepper Flash, Google's custom implementation of Adobe Flash. The decision comes as Mozilla is trying to cut down development costs, after Firefox took a nose dive in market share this year. "In order to enable stronger focus on advancing the Web and to reduce the complexity and long term maintenance cost of Firefox, and as part of our strategy to remove generic plugin support, we are launching Project Mortar," said Johnny Stenback, Senior Director Of Engineering at Mozilla Corporation. "Project Mortar seeks to reduce the time Mozilla spends on technologies that are required to provide a complete web browsing experience, but are not a core piece of the Web platform," Stenback adds. "We will be looking for opportunities to replace such technologies with other existing alternatives, including implementations by other browser vendors."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/09/30/1524238 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Raspberry Pi Foundation Unveils New LXDE-Based Desktop For Raspbian Called PIXEL
by Peter Reutemann 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

'Until today, Raspbian shipped with the well-known and lightweight LXDE desktop environment, which looks pretty much the same as on any other Linux-based distribution out there that is built around LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). But Simon Long, a UX engineer working for Raspberry Pi Foundation, was hired to make it better, transform it into something that's more appealing to users. So after two years of work, he managed to create a whole new desktop environment for Raspbian, the flagship operating system for Raspberry Pi single-board computers developed and distributed by Raspberry Pi Foundation. Called PIXEL, the new Raspbian desktop offers a more eye-candy design with the panel on top (not on the bottom like on a default LXDE setup), new icons, new Applications Menu, and new theme. "It's actually surprisingly easy to hack about with the LXDE desktop once you get your head around what all the bits do, and since then I've been slowly chipping away at the bits that I felt would most benefit from tweaking," reveals Simon Long. "Stuff has slowly been becoming more and more like my original concept for the desktop; with the latest changes, I think the desktop has reached the point where it's a complete product in its own right and should have its own name."' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/29/1640251 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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starving journalists strike back
by Ian Young 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

As seen on theinquirer.net. While trying to read an article up came a message. 'Incisive Media publications, including INQ, are now blocking ad-blockers' One or two paragraphs are visible, the rest blurred. First time I've seen this. They want to be whitelisted.

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Government IT Contract Lock-In?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

The UK Government has an IT policy which says that no single contract should be worth more than £100 million. The idea is to try to break up cosy mega-contracts that favour large incumbent companies, in order to allow a wider range of suppliers to get a look in. This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/government_20bn_it_contract_lock_in…> is a result of a bunch of FOIA requests to different departments, to try to get an idea of how well this policy is being implemented. As you might expect, the results are somewhat mixed. Anybody know anything about the NZ situation?

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Quote Of The Week
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

>From <http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2986543>: It is almost as if ½bits do not understand that the purpose of a GUI is so you can see all the terminal emulators for a task at the same time, and switch to different virtual desktops when you are doing multiple unrelated tasks.

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Design For Design’s Sake
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 29 Sep '16

29 Sep '16

Nice commentary <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/28/open_source_insider_peak_web/> on what constitutes “good” or “bad” design: ... open source software might be the best designed software in existence. After all, FOSS software is everywhere. ... No one forced anyone to use it for all those things. ... Open source was simply, presumably, the best designed tool for the job. And today every where you turn open source software is there, which is pretty impressive for something that's supposedly very poorly designed. ... On the other hand the world is increasingly awash in software that looks very "modern" and "well designed" but is inevitably a functional step backwards from the previous version. ... I increasingly turn to FOSS software that helps me route around this damage.

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Open-Source Digital Radio On A Raspberry π
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 28 Sep '16

28 Sep '16

It is possible to run a DAB radio station on a Raspberry π with a full open-source software stack <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/27/ofcom_blesses_linuxpowered_open_sou…>. The idea has even received regulatory approval in the UK.

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Geek’s Guide To Britain: Cambridge University
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Worth mentioning this installment in the semi-regular series on The Register because of its high computing content: Turing, Sinclair, and of course Acorn <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/geeks_guide_to_britain_walking_tour/>. Worth watching is “Micro Men”, a dramatization of the heyday of Sinclair and Acorn, and the rivalry between them. There is one nice sequence where Hermann Hauser, from a wealthy Austrian wine-making family, is asked why he wanted to get into the computing business and invest in Acorn. His reply: “Have you ever tasted Austrian wine?”

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Krebs On Security Back Online
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

The “Krebs On Security” blog was knocked offline recently by a massive DDoS attack. Akamai stepped in to shield it for awhile, until the malicious traffic grew too much for it to bear. So Brian Krebs had to take his blog offline. But now it is back, courtesy of Google taking over the shield. <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/26/google_shields_krebs/>

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Fwd: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP
by Peter Reutemann 26 Sep '16

26 Sep '16

Apologies for cross-posting, but I thought some of you might be interested in this. Cheers, Peter ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ewen McNeill Date: Tue, Sep 27, 2016 at 10:12 AM Subject: [NZLUG] Linux.Conf.Au 2017: Miniconfs announced; Sysadmin Miniconf CFP To: nzlug(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz Linux.Conf.Au 2017, being held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in January 2017, has announced the Miniconfs selected for the first two days of the conference: https://linux.conf.au/about/news/announcing-miniconfs/ https://linux.conf.au/schedule/miniconfs/list/ The Systems Administration Miniconf is pleased to have been selected again for LCA2017 -- our eleventh year at Linux.Conf.Au. Our Call for Presentations at the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf is now open: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp17.html (A copy of the CFP text is included below for your convenience.) Please forward this CFP to your colleagues, peers, social networks, and other relevant mailing lists. Please help by encouraging submissions from people you would like to hear present at this Miniconf. This is our 11th Sysadmin Miniconf at Linux.conf.au. Previous presentations can be found at the website: https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/ -=+ Presentation Topics +=- We welcome talks on best current practice, new developments in Systems Administration, cutting edge techniques and technologies, and ways to better manage Linux environments large and small. Topics for presentations could include (but are not limited to): * Systems Administration Best Practice * Virtualisation and Cloud Computing * Containers and orchestration * Sysadmin Administration in a "serverless" environment (FAAS) * TLS everywhere * Monitoring and metrics: Collection, storage and presentation * Infrastructure/Platform/Software as a Service (IAAS, PAAS, SAAS) * Networkng: IPv6, SDN (Software Defined Networking), performance * DevOps, Configuration Management and provisioning * Bootstrapping systems, Lifecycle Management * Dealing with BYOD * Backups in a virtual/distributed world * Troubleshooting techniques * Buying Decisions * Web and Email management * Keeping legacy systems functioning * War stories from the "Real World" Presentations should be of a technical nature and speakers should assume that members of the audience have at least a couple of years experience in Unix/Linux administration. -=+ Format of Presentations +=- We are now seeking proposals for presentations at the mini-conference. We have openings for: 15-25 minute short presentations 5-10 minute "lightning talks" Please note, due to the single day available (and whole-LCA keynote before morning tea), we expect the majority of available timeslots to be 20 minutes or less, with possibly 1-2 slightly longer talks if there is space in the schdule. We have a general policy of accepting a high proportion of proposals but handing out relatively short timeslots. Please see previous years Miniconf schedules for examples of how the programme is organised. -=+ Submitting talks +=- Please note that in order to give a presentation or attend the Miniconf you must be registered (and paid up by the time the conference happens) for the main linux.conf.au conference. Presenting at the Miniconf does not entitle you to discounted or free registration at the main conference nor to priority with registration. Unfortunately the Miniconf has no budget for sponsorship of speakers. To submit a talk to the LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf, create an account on the LCA2017 website: https://linux.conf.au/dashboard create a speaker profile, and then select "New Proposal" and "System Administration Miniconf Presentation", or while logged into the LCA2017 site, go directly to: https://linux.conf.au/proposals/submit/sysadmin-miniconf/ If you have a preferred length of your Short Presentation (15/20/25 minutes) or Lightning Talk (5/10 minutes) please use the Private Abstract field to describe what would work best for your talk. Otherwise we will pick a length that best suits the gaps in the programme as we put the final programme together. In some cases we maybe able to add a few extra minutes to a few Short Presentations if there is any spare time left in the programme. -=+ Dates and Deadlines +=- To encourage early submissions, priority (both of inclusion and scheduling) will be given to presentations submitted by 23:59 UTC on the 23rd of October 2016. If you have a good presentation idea, please let us know early, even if you need time to finalise the presentation abstract. Please indicate if you need an early confirmation to aid you in arranging time off work or travel; we will do our best to assist. 2016-10-23 - Deadline for early submissions 2016-11-01 - Early submissions confirmation 2016-11-21 - Deadline for submissions 2016-11-30 - Confirmation of all presentations 2016-12-07 - Miniconf programme published 2017-01-16 - Sysadmin Miniconf held -=+ Contact and Questions +=- Please see our website at https://sysadmin.miniconf.org for more information on the miniconf, past presentations and presenting at it. If you have any questions please feel free to email the organisers at: lca2017 @ sysadmin.miniconf.org Ewen McNeill and Simon Lyall LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf Conveeners _______________________________________________ NZLUG mailing list NZLUG(a)lists.nzoss.org.nz http://lists.nzoss.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/nzlug -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Permanent job in Tokyo, Japan
by James Tobin 25 Sep '16

25 Sep '16

Hello, I’m working with an employer that is looking to hire someone to fulfil a permanent DevOps-type position at their office in Tokyo. Japanese language is not required; only English. Consequently I had hoped that some members of this LUG may like to discuss further; off-list. I can be reached using "JamesBTobin (at) Gmail (dot) Com". Kind regards, James

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free and open internet -- includes politics in the USA
by Ian Young 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I always wanted to be an entity, albeit a tiny one. What about 'We the people'? http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-icann-ted-cruz-20160923-sna… But the federal government hasn’t run IANA for years. Instead, it hired the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to do that, with a minimum of supervision. ICANN was formed to make sure the entities with the largest stakes in the Internet — telecommunications companies, online service providers, researchers, equipment makers and, yes, governments — would jointly have a say in the creation and management of domains.

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SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full
by rowan schischka 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

I'm afraid this embedded machine will not be competing with raspberry at a total price of $157 (I'm assuming thats USD). something to compare it to in the x86 space: ASUS N3050I-C Motherboard, Mini-ITX retails for around $100NZD; comes with CPU soldered; does not come with PSU, ram, HDD, case. but altogether much more practical considering you're getting a real computer for the price. power consumption is around 6W. i guess its not as small considering it needs an ATX power supply, http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=433649 -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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Computer Security And The Ford Pinto Formula
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Sep '16

24 Sep '16

With security breaches of company data happening so often nowadays, why aren’t these companies taking more effort to defend themselves? Could it be because the cost of doing so outweighs the cost of simply putting up with these breaches? <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/23/if_your_company_has_terrible_it_sec…>

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double commander
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

Hi everyone Since I'm quite often dealing with 100s of thousands of files in single directories, I've always been on the lookout for a file manager that can handle that properly. The Midnight Commander, which is cross-platform, works perfectly. However, if your users aren't well accustomed to file manager that runs within a terminal, then you might want to give "Double Commander" a whirl: http://doublecmd.sourceforge.net/ Don't mind the slightly dated looking website. The file manager is where they spend their time on! ;-) Not as fast as the Midnight Commander, but when you turn off some eye candy (namely icons), you get pretty close. It also offers multiple tabs for each half of the dual pane setup, which is quite nice. And it beats Nautilus, Caja and Sunflower FM in performance by a few magnitudes. But wait! What about Gnome Commander? Well, it doesn't integrate that nicely into MATE (I'm running Linux Mint/MATE). Double Commander does a much better job at this. You can install the Commander's GTK interface like this on a Debian/Ubuntu system: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk Or, if you prefer the QT interface: sudo apt-get install doublecmd-qt Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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SolidRun x86 Braswell MicroSoM Runs Linux and Full Windows 10, Destroys Raspberry Pi
by Peter Reutemann 23 Sep '16

23 Sep '16

'BetaNews has a report today about a company called SolidRun, which has announced an Intel Braswell-based MicroSoM. Unlike the ARM-powered Raspberry Pi, this is x86 compatible, meaning it can run full Windows 10. Plus, if you install a Linux distro, there will be far more packages available, such as Google Chrome, which is not available for Pi. Heck, it can probably serve as a secondary desktop, Brian with the site writes. From the report: At 53mm by 40mm, these new MicroSoMs provide unheard of design flexibility while also eliminating the headache of having to design complicated power-delivery subsystems thanks to its single power input rail design. SolidRun's Braswell MicroSoM also offers flexibility in RAM options, ranging from 1GB to 8GB configurations, and offers on-board support of eMMC storage up to 128GB. Its robust design and unsurpassed HD Edge surveillance, event detection, and statistical data-extraction capabilities makes it the platform of choice for mission-critical applications requiring guaranteed reliability," says Solidrun. It starts at $117, the website has more details on specifications.' -- source: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/2044237 It's also a bit pricier... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Yahoo Confirms Massive Data Breach, 500 Million Users Impacted [Updated]
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Update: 09/22 18:47 GMT by M :Yahoo has confirmed the data breach, adding that about 500 million users are impacted. Yahoo said "a copy of certain user account information was stolen from the company's network in late 2014 by what it believes is a state-sponsored actor." As Business Insider reports, this could be the largest data breach of all time. In a blog post, the company said: Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and has taken steps to secure their accounts. These steps include invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account and asking potentially affected users to change their passwords. Yahoo is also recommending that users who haven't changed their passwords since 2014 do so. The Intercept reporter Sam Biddle commented, "It took Yahoo two years to announce that info on half a billion user accounts was stolen." Amid its talks with Verizon for a possible acquisition -- which did happen -- Yahoo knew about the attack, but didn't inform Verizon about it, Business Insider reports. Original story, from earlier today, follows. Last month, it was reported that a hacker was selling account details of at least 200 million Yahoo users. The company's service had apparently been hacked, putting several hundred million users accounts at risk. Since then Yahoo has remained tight-lipped on the matter, but that could change very soon. Kara Swisher of Recode is reporting that Yahoo is poised to confirm that massive data breach of its service. >From the report: While sources were unspecific about the extent of the incursion, since there is the likelihood of government investigations and legal action related to the breach, they noted that it is widespread and serious. Earlier this summer, Yahoo said it was investigating a data breach in which hackers claimed to have access to 200 million user accounts and was selling them online. "It's as bad as that," said one source. "Worse, really." The announcement, which is expected to come this week, also possible larger implications on the $4.8 billion sale of Yahoo's core business -- which is at the core of this hack -- to Verizon. The scale of the liability could be large and bring untold headaches to the new owners. Shareholders are likely to worry that it could lead to an adjustment in the price of the transaction.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/16/09/22/095255 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Some Lenovo laptops won't install Linux it seems
by Ian Young 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

Maybe don't buy that shiny laptop from Lenovo just yet .... http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37431299

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The Wheel Of Reincarnation Spins Again
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

This article <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/22/the_evolution_of_moores_law_suggest…> says that the end of Moore’s Law has not meant a let-up in improving hardware performance. Instead, the high-performance hardware is becoming ever more specialized, the example offered being Apple’s particular flavours of ARM processors. This oscillation between general-purpose versus special-purpose hardware is not a new phenomenon: it was observed as long ago as 1968 <http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-of-reincarnation.html> (you can read the original paper here <http://cva.stanford.edu/classes/cs99s/papers/myer-sutherland-design-of-disp…>). But is this the end of the cycles, now that Moore’s Law has hit its limits? Time will tell...

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GNOME 3.22 Desktop Environment Officially Released
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Today, September 21, is a big day for Linux users, especially those who love the GNOME desktop environment, as the next major release is now officially available. Yes, that's right, we're talking about GNOME 3.22, dubbed Karlsruhe after the German host city of the annual GUADEC (GNOME Users And Developers European Conference) event, which took place last month between August 12-14, 2016. Prominent features of the GNOME 3.22 desktop environment include batch rename functionality and support for integration of compressed files built directly into the Nautilus file manager, a new Week View, support for alarms, and the ability to drag and drop events to the GNOME Calendar, as well as an updated GNOME Music app that supports handling of music libraries with thousands of tracks. There are lots of improvements for the GNOME Games app as well, as it now offers support for numerous retro gaming consoles. Among other improvements, we can mention Flatpak integration, photo sharing, revamped GNOME Software app with support for firmware updates, redesigned keyboard settings and a brand new GNOME Control Center panel, and a redesigned dconf Editor. A video overview of the new features of GNOME 3.22 is available on the official website.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1726230 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Lenovo Denies Claims It Plotted With Microsoft To Block Linux Installs
by Peter Reutemann 22 Sep '16

22 Sep '16

'Several users noted certain new Lenovo machines' SSDs are locked in a RAID mode, with AHCI removed from the BIOS. Windows is able to see the SSD while in RAID mode due to a proprietary driver, but the SSD is hidden from Linux installations -- for which such a driver is unavailable. Speaking to The Register today, a Lenovo spokesperson claimed the Chinese giant "does not intentionally block customers using other operating systems on its devices and is fully committed to providing Linux certifications and installation guidance on a wide range of products." Complaints on Lenovo's forums suggest that users have been unable to install GNU/Linux operating systems on models from the Yoga 900S to the Ideapad 710S, with one 19-page thread going into detail about the BIOS issue and users' attempts to work around it.' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/09/21/1838252 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Inkscape/sozi/scribus talk Monday
by William Mckee 21 Sep '16

21 Sep '16

Hello, I'm doing a talk on Monday on creating slide deck with Inkscape/Sozi and book design with Scribus. Slides for my talk can be found at http://artctrl.me/sozi.svg It will be great meeting for any art/design people to attend, if you know any let them know. The meeting details: https://www.meetup.com/WaikatoLinuxUsersGroup/events/233952289/ Cheers, William.

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Emacs 25.1 Released With Tons Of New Features
by rowan schischka 20 Sep '16

20 Sep '16

Can someone demonstrate the web/youtube viewing capabilities of emacs at the next meeting? i guess its true when people say emacs is my favourite operating system -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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